


Adrift In Astra

by DragonHeartstring360



Category: Space: Above and Beyond
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Other, Science Fiction, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2018-12-06 21:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11609142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonHeartstring360/pseuds/DragonHeartstring360
Summary: The war with the Chigs continues in light of the failed peace talks and the search is on for the missing Wild Cards. Hawkes, West and a returned McQueen attempt to navigate a balance between the coming twists and turns of war and the new members of the 58th squadron. But nothing can prepare them for the tasks ahead. *Takes place after "TOMWDOB"*





	1. If The Dead Could Wake

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, I’m not sure how big the Space: Above & Beyond fandom is, since it’s an old show, but if you’re part of the fandom, welcome. If you’re not, I would highly recommend it, it was a great show, even though it got cancelled after all the shenanigans of the season 1 finale. The rating is subject to change at any time because of future events (not entirely sure what those will be yet, but just wanted to give a heads up).
> 
> This takes place after “...Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best,” and is a bit of an AU, since in my version, the APC Wang’s in doesn’t fully explode (more is explained in the chapter below). I couldn’t bear the thought of killing him off (although I don’t see how he could’ve survived what happened in the finale) and wanted the possibility to bring him back. Whether he actually does, you’ll have to read and find out. Thank you so much for the read and enjoy!

Unknown month/day/2064. 0700 hours  
Unknown planet

She was dead. She was dead and in hell. Every part of her hurt as she wandered through the swampy, barren landscape. It was still dark out, but her eyes had long since adjusted. Did the sun even rise in hell? Shane Vansen didn’t think so. 

Her last living memory had been their APC taking a hit, the cockpit with her and Damphousse in it blasting off and falling towards some unknown planet. Then there had been darkness and she had woken up here. No signs of the crashed cockpit or her squad mate anywhere to be found. She had looked all over, but hadn’t found anything. She had trudged all over a diverse landscape for who knew how long. For awhile, there had been a forest where her parents had walked on either side of her. That was how she knew she was dead. They spoke to her as if nothing had separated them, just having normal conversations that any parent and child would have. They promised to keep watch over her as she slept, but when she awoke, they were gone. The beautiful, lush woodland filled with birdsong had disappeared when she’d woken, too, to be replaced by this disgusting, rank-smelling, humid swamp. It was as if she’d been granted a few minutes in Heaven, then someone up there realized they’d made a mistake and hurled her down to hell. She hadn’t seen Wang or Damphousse yet, but she could only hope they were in a better place. 

Shane’s boot caught in a particular swampy patch and wouldn’t come up. With no strength left to yank it out, she simply moaned and stood there, staring into the dark, cloudy sky. She panted, suddenly realizing how out of breath she was. After the APC had crashed and inevitably killed her, her helmet was missing as was the cockpit. Any emergency provisions that might’ve been inside were gone. But she was dead, wasn’t she? Didn’t that mean she didn’t need any provisions? Then why did she hurt? Maybe that was part of being in hell. 

Several tears slid down her cheeks, making tracks in the grime that caked her face. She moaned once more, then again as it felt good to release the agony inside her. Her moans soon turned into wails and she sank to her knees in the muck. While hurtling towards the unknown planet, she’d slowly resigned herself to her death. But she hadn’t been expecting this. Why was she in hell? Was it for all the times she’d failed the people she cared about? Yes, that had to be it. It was the only explanation. At least Hawkes and West had been alive last time she’d seen them. 

She thought she heard voices, but who cared? She was dead. There was nothing more they could do to her. She continued to wail her misfortunes to the sky until her throat was hoarse and she couldn’t howl anymore. She was aware of the landscape becoming lighter around her and rain began pelting her upturned face. She opened her eyes to see a bright, glowing golden orb begin to peek up over the lip of the horizon, underneath the clouds. So maybe hell did have a sunrise after all.  
________________________________________

May 19, 2064 (several weeks later), 1000 hours  
Aboard the Saratoga

“Flex it for me, please,” the doctor commanded, standing over his patient intently. 

T.C. McQueen did as bade. It had taken several months of hospitalization mixed with therapy and surgery, but he still refused to be down and out of the war for long. The only way they’d be able to send him home and keep him home was in a bodybag. After some convincing, he’d been fitted with an artificial leg akin to what the Silicates were made out of. It was a new remedy doctors were trying on patients who had missing limbs, although it was still very much experimental. He couldn’t run on it or fight—at least not yet. But he didn’t care at the moment. All he cared about was getting back to his “kids.” Or what was left of them. Hawkes and West were still alive and kicking, but Damphousse and Vansen were still MIA.

Wang had been declared MIA as well, although his situation was a bit more complicated. From the reports he’d heard, Vansen, Damphousse and Wang were all in an APC carrier together. Vansen was pilot, Damphousse was co-pilot and Wang was operating the guns in the passenger compartment. A Chig had fired a missile just right and separated the cockpit from the compartment. The cockpit had floated down towards an unknown planet, where SAR teams were still searching for the missing marines. The compartment had apparently taken a “bad beating,” as Commodore Ross had told him and looked scorched. The light in the tiny windows had gone out and it had slowly floated towards the same unknown planet as the cockpit had, although its landing spot would probably be a few miles away from the cockpit. When West had tried to contact Wang, there had been only static. 

Ty had still been under many doctors’ watchful eyes, but Hawkes and West had been given four weeks shore leave after the tragedy. Both had returned two weeks ago. The trio had all been thrilled to see each other, although “happy” wasn’t really an emotion he himself showcased. Both Hawkes and West had seemed rather somber as well and the three of them had showed their elation just by sitting and talking about the things they’d done the past few weeks. West had gone to spend some time with his family and Kylen and the couple had gotten married over the shore leave. It was a small ceremony and Hawkes had been present, although he still seemed like he wasn’t sure what to think of the whole experience. West had invited McQueen, but he was several states away undergoing surgery for his artificial leg at the hospital and hadn’t been able to attend. Hawkes hadn’t really said what he’d done other than go to West and Kylen’s wedding and McQueen wasn’t one to pry into someone else’s personal matters. 

“Good,” the doctor in front of him said, drawing his attention back to the present. “Keep using your crutch and we’ll see how it goes. Make sure not to stand on it for too long.”

The colonel nodded, slowly rising to his feet with his crutch under his arm. He still wasn’t sure he fully understood how the leg worked; it felt and moved just like a normal leg. He just willed it to move and it did, thanks to a chip that had been implanted in his brain that somehow connected his thoughts to the fake leg. He’d protested anything being put in his brain, but had been told by multiple people that it was the only way the leg would function properly. It was either that or a wheelchair and Ty had opted for being on his feet. There had never been any question that he would return to the Saratoga once he was all patched up and he wouldn’t ruin the one chance he had to do so. So he’d swallowed his stubbornness and pride and let them put the chip into his brain. 

The leg worked fairly well, but he had still been ordered to use a crutch to help support him while they continued to test it out. He was required to go for weekly checkups on the Saratoga’s sickbay. He slowly but surely made his way to the Rec. Room, surveying the area. 

It was mostly empty except for a few other squads and the semi-newly formed 58th. West and Hawkes had insisted that if they weren’t allowed to be on the SAR teams, they wanted to keep taking the fight to the Chigs until their squad mates were found. Well, West had anyway. Hawkes had been quieter than usual ever since he’d returned to duty but he refused to be left behind, so after a moment’s pause, he’d simply nodded along with his squad mate. Ty admired their valor and perseverance. 

West was furiously scribbling something on a piece of paper at a table in the corner by himself while Hawkes watched TV a few feet away. He, too, was alone and gazing at the screen intently—maybe a little too intently. Ty couldn’t really see Hawkes that interested in a documentary about fish. The new Wild Cards were scattered around, although Ty couldn’t have picked them out. He’d only returned to the Saratoga five days ago and hadn’t had a chance to formally meet them. He didn’t even know anything about them really. 

He glanced over at West’s furrowed brow and decided to make his way over to Hawkes. He approached from behind just as the documentary began its section on blowfish. He glanced over at the young In-Vitro as he came around the couch to see his face a mix of awe and confusion. Hawkes turned to meet his eyes and clamped his agape mouth shut, shooting to his feet. 

“As you were,” Ty said, waving him down. Hawkes scooted down to make room as his CO slowly lowered himself into the firm cushions. They were both quiet for several minutes until Ty said, “Blowfish, huh?”

Hawkes glanced at him. “It was either that or some dumb gardening show.” He snorted to show his enthusiasm for the idea. 

“There are more channels than two.”

He shrugged. “Ain’t nothing else interesting.”

Silence again. “What’s West working on over there?”

“Dunno.”

Ty withheld a sigh. Hawkes had never been the most talkative person, but trying to get him to talk now was like yanking teeth. As In-Vitroes, they both usually kept to themselves and it wasn’t very often that Ty would be the one to seek Hawkes out. It was usually the other way around. But the younger marine had seemed to fold inward on himself ever since the failed peace conference with the Chigs. McQueen felt it was his job to… comfort him in some way, but he wasn’t really sure what to do. Hence, the awkward attempt at conversation.

He cleared his throat and tried again. “So, um… how are the rookies doing?”

Hawkes finally turned his full attention on him. “There are only three. Jack Burns and Anna Perkins are the two over there—” he pointed to two people who had their backs to them, crouched over something Ty couldn’t see, “and Jack doesn’t like In-Vitroes. Anna’s okay, but she don’t do much. On the few missions we’ve done, she just kinda sits there scared the whole time. She and Burns talk a lot though and she seems to be starting to get a thing against In-Vitroes, too.” He turned and scanned the room, frowning. “Don’t see Lily Drums.”

“She any good?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. Keeps her head more than those two.” He jerked his head back over to Burns and Perkins, who were now standing very close. Burns caught Ty’s eye and his mouth twisted in disgust before turning back to his friend. 

He sighed and settled back into his seat. He would still be the 58th’s CO, he just wouldn’t be able to go on missions with them anymore—at least for the time being. He was hoping this new leg worked out and they would eventually clear him for active duty instead of just sitting on the Saratoga waiting for things to happen, but he knew that was a long shot. Burns would just have to put a cork in it and do what Ty told him. 

The intercom buzzed overhead. “Will the 58th report for briefing in 10 mikes.” It was an order, not a question. 

Ty frowned. He hadn’t been notified about this. 

“What’s going on?” Burns asked from the corner. His voice had a whiny tone to it that grated on the colonel’s ears. 

“Don’t know,” Ty replied, pulling himself to his feet. Hawkes stood with him. “But you heard the commodore. Go get changed and meet me there in 10 mikes.”

Ty was somehow still the first one to the briefing room, even with his current handicap. Commodore Ross stood at the front and his dark eyes appraised the colonel as he hobbled in. “Still getting used to the leg?”

“I’ll get the hang of it,” Ty replied, glancing down and rotating his foot involuntary as if to say see? He brought his ice colored eyes back to the commodore’s face. “What’s all this about? Why wasn’t I or the 58th notified earlier?”

“Because we didn’t get word until just now.” He came over to Ty and put a hand on his shoulder. “Ty… we found Wang.”


	2. Those Found & Those Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For some reason, I had a bit of a hard time writing Damphousse, so hopefully she’s in character, especially since she’s tired and dehydrated :S I hope you guys are all doing great and have a great week. Thanks for the read and enjoy.

May 19, 2064. 1200 hours  
Aboard the Saratoga

The machine beeped steadily next to Wang’s bed in sickbay, monitoring his pulse and respiratory system. According to the commodore, he had been found amid the wreckage of the crashed APC compartment. By some miracle, he only had a few broken ribs and a sprained ankle and wrist, but was in a coma. Doctors had no idea when he would wake up—if he would wake up. They said they had him stable, but there wasn’t much more they could do now than wait. The second half of the briefing revealed that there were some people missing from the group of hostages the Chigs handed over. About six people total were missing off the list. Ty hadn’t missed the defeated looks on West and Hawkes’s faces at that particular piece of information. The mission that had landed Wang in a coma, possibly killed Vansen and Damphousse and almost killed the three Wild Cards that remained had only been a half-success. Ross had tried to provide a few brief words of encouragement, but it hadn’t seemed to make much of a difference. SAR teams were still searching for the two other Wild Cards and now a separate team was looking for any signs of the missing hostages. To say the least, it was a messy situation. Adding to everyone’s worry was the fact that the Chigs had been very quiet since the failed peace talks—too quiet. And that, Ty knew, was never a good thing. 

The doctor had told them that Wang might be able to hear them, if they wanted to talk to them. But what would Ty say? The only thing he could think of were questions: what happened? Would he be all right? How did he feel? Had he seen Vansen and Damphousse at all down there or had been in a coma from the second he crashed (probably the more likely answer)? If he had been awake at any point, what was the planet like and why did the Chigs avoid it like the plague? All things Wang couldn’t answer in his current state. So, Ty stood off to the side, observing Hawkes and West staying by their friend’s side.

“Hey, Wang,” West said quietly. Hawkes merely watched the interaction, probably as unsure what to say as Ty was. “We missed you and we’re glad you’re alive.” He was quiet for a minute, resting his hand on Wang’s shoulder. The oxygen mask over the marine’s mouth and nose gasped quietly as it blew air into his lungs. West’s voice turned even more quiet. “You gotta wake up, man. We need you.” 

“Are you Colonel McQueen?”

Ty turned to see a woman in the typical marine jumpsuit approach him. She had flaming red hair tied into a bun with large brown eyes. She was tall—nearly as tall as him and he could tell she had a muscular physique. Her eyes held a friendliness, but a hardness at the same time that told the colonel that anyone who crossed her would have hell to pay. She carried herself with confidence and if she was at all uncomfortable, she didn’t show it. Ty liked her already. 

“I am,” he answered her earlier question.

She stuck out her hand and Ty could see the tip of a tattoo peek out her sleeve. “Lieutenant Lily Drums. They just put me with the Wild Cards. Good to meet you, sir.” 

Ty shook her hand. “Welcome aboard, lieutenant.”

They were both silent for several moments as Ty glanced back at Wang. “What if he don’t wake back up?” Hawkes was saying. 

“He will,” West said with a conviction Ty knew he didn’t feel. “He has to. And they’ll find Vansen and Damphousse, too, and they’ll both be fine.” Then, losing some of the confidence in his voice, “You’ll see.”

Drums remained silent next to him, but didn’t seem at all uncomfortable. “So,” he began low enough for just Drums to hear, “how long have you been in the military?” If she’d been on missions before, she seemed strangely relaxed and almost carefree. She had to be fresh meat. 

“Not long, sir,” she replied. Her voice had a slight husk to it. “I was with another squadron, but we were newly-formed—actually just before the peace talks started. I’ve been in some firefights in the Hammerheads, but nothing other than that, really. I guess somebody thought I did a good job though, ’cause they put me here. I’ve heard the Wild Cards are badass, so I’m grateful the commodore thought I was up for it.” 

Ty nodded, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “How’s the transition been?”

“Not too bad. Hawkes and West are nice enough.” She snorted. “Burns and Perkins are… a little more difficult. They’re manageable though.” 

He mumbled the next sentence more to himself than anyone else. “They better be.”  
~~~  
Unknown month/day/2064.  
1400 hours

“Damphousse!” Vansen screamed. “Phousse! Wake up! Vanessa! Dam—”

“—phousse!” 

Vanessa gasped and shot up from where she’d been asleep. She looked around, her dark eyes wide and wild and frowned at her surroundings. Where was she? It looked like some sort of cave. A few supplies lay strewn around—some sleeping bags, some food and water packets like what an APC would carry sat on a nearby folding table. Some guns and ammo sat on a pile by the floor a few feet away and some lanterns provided crude light for the small space. 

She turned to observe what was on her right and gasped, jumping back when she saw a face close to hers. She relaxed when she saw it was human. It was a woman that looked about her age, maybe a little younger, whose clothes and body were surprisingly clean for the surroundings she was in. Her blue tank top and dark green cargo pants and brown boots looked worn and faded. A belt around her waist held all sorts of ammo and compartments full of things Vanessa could only guess at. The pants were far too large for her and Vanessa wondered if the belt was more to keep them up than anything else. The tank top was snug around her slim torso and her long, rich brown hair fell to cover her chest. Vanessa finally looked at her face and realized she was probably several years younger than herself—she couldn’t have been more than eighteen, probably closer to sixteen. But what caught Vanessa’s attention were the intense, ice-colored blue eyes that seemed to pierce a hole into her veins and read all the secrets lying there. Not that she had that many, but this girl’s stare made her feel like she needed to go hide. 

“Dam-fous?” she said uncertainly, her voice a tad lower than Vanessa had expected. She’d almost expected a high, child’s voice with how young this girl looked. She glanced down at her uniform to see the patch with her name on it was still intact, although the girl was pronouncing it wrong.

“Dam-foose,” Vanessa corrected, still a little disoriented. 

“Oh, sorry,” the girl said. “How are you feeling?” 

“Um…” Vanessa pushed herself up into a better sitting position from where she’d been laying in the sleeping bag. “I… think I’m okay. Where am I? Who are you?”

“My name’s Mallory,” the girl answered. “The others are out right now, but we were captured by the Chigs—you know, that colony that was attacked that basically started the whole war. We were with a big group, but for some reason, they separated six of us. Wanted to keep their favorite pets back I guess.” She shook her head. “Anyway, the ship they had us all in crashed. We all got into an escape pod, somehow figured out to launch it and now we’re here. We found this cave about a half hour’s walk from the pod. We didn’t want to stick around in case the Chigs or Silicates came looking for us. We’ve been here…” she paused and glanced behind Vanessa. The marine turned around to see someone had scratched tally marks into the wall behind her head, “about two weeks,” Mallory continued. “A few days ago, we were out looking for food when we saw some ship crash. We stole the supplies and then found you wandering around a few days later, dehydrated and hungry. You collapsed about as soon as we found you and we brought you here.”

“This ship—what did it look like?” Vanessa asked, leaning forward. 

“It was just this big block-looking thing. We think it was military. It’s a good half hour from here, too, in the opposite direction of the life pod. We took the supplies and I think Henry’s been trying to get the radio to work. He’s made some progress, but it’s been slow.” She cleared her throat, then gave an apologetic smile that didn’t touch her eyes. Vanessa guessed she hadn’t given a real smile in a long time. “Sorry, I never talk this much.”

“It’s okay. But was there anyone in this ship?”

“No. We were a little scared to check it out right after it crashed, in case it was an enemy ship, so we waited until yesterday afternoon to really go see anything. It looked deserted. Why?”

Vanessa began to fold her legs underneath her. “I need to see it—”

Mallory put a hand on her shoulder to firmly push her down. “Woah, you’re not going anywhere right now. You’re still weak. We’ve gotta get some food and fluids in you.”

“If that ship is what I think it is, it’s part of the ship that I and my squad mates crash-landed in,” she snapped. “Wang was in there. I need to see if he’s alive.” She started to get up again, but Mallory pushed her down with a strength that surprised Vanessa. 

“You’re not going anywhere. I already told you, there was no one there when we got there. Whoever this Wang guy is, he’s gone now.”

Vanessa took a deep breath. “So that means he’s alive… If he could get up and walk away, he’s alive—or someone rescued him…” She took a shaky breath. “I can fix the radio if you take me there.” Mallory opened her mouth to protest, but Vanessa interrupted her, “After I eat and drink.”

Mallory nodded and stood, walking over to the table and grabbing some packs of food and a small bottle of water. Vanessa recognized them as supplies from the APC. It made her angry that Mallory and her friends had stolen supplies that Wang would’ve needed, but if he’d already been gone when they got there, hopefully he’d taken what he’d needed with him. 

Mallory sat next to her in silence, fiddling with a string on the seam of her pants while Vanessa ate. 

“When will your friends be back?” she asked between bites.

“They shouldn’t be much longer. Henry went to try his luck with the radio again and Sierra and Ivan went with him. Jason and Marie went to scout around. See if we can find anything that can help get us out of this hellhole. You have to be careful how long you stay out though. I think there’s something in the air that does trippy shit to you if you inhale it too long. When we got here, I got separated from the others for a few days. I had enough supplies on me to last if I rationed, but…you can just feel the air’s not the same as Earth’s, or even the colony’s. I started hallucinating after a while and…other stuff.” 

Vanessa was about to ask what the “other stuff” was when a thought struck her. She paused mid-chew and felt her head, which was rather stupid considering she obviously didn’t have her helmet on anymore. “Where’s my—”

Mallory pointed and Vanessa looked down to see all her equipment that she’d had on her in a neat pile by her sleeping bag, hidden from the lamplight by the shadow her body made. She sighed in relief before turning back to Mallory. “Do you know how long you can be outside without all the effects?”

The girl thought for a moment. “I was okay when I first got here until about an hour in. That’s why we try to never walk further than a half hour. I think after a while your body gets used to it after you’ve had enough concentrated blocks of exposure, but…” She shrugged. “Figured it’s still not a good idea to be out there for too long. I’ve had the most exposure of anyone,” her voice started to rasp and she cleared her throat again, “and Jesus, I really don’t talk this much.” 

Vanessa gave a half-hearted chuckle as she swallowed the last bite of her food and took a nice swig of water. She glanced over at the table again; Mallory and her friends really had taken everything from the APC. She didn’t really blame them. She probably would’ve too, in their position. In fact, she knew she would’ve. Especially after being POWs for the whole length of the war and then crash-landing here and being trapped for two weeks. “But the air’s breathable, right?” she asked, returning to the matter at hand. 

“Yeah. My guess is there’s probably some gas or whatever that we can’t see that has weird effects on humans.”

“And you haven’t seen any Chigs or Silicates so far here?”

“Not any live ones, no. Which is weird. Our group…” she paused and looked down at her feet that were folded beneath her, “me especially…were favorites of the Chigs and the Silicates.” She laughed humorlessly. “The Chigs were kinder, honestly. The Silicates just played with us. We know things about them now from watching them so long and being around them so long. When you’re in a cage, there isn’t really anything else you can do. I kind of worked out bits and pieces of the Chigs’ language, but I’m not fluent by any means. They know we know these things, too. You’d think they’d be all over us before the military got to us, but…” she shrugged. 

“If you’ve been a POW for the whole length of the war, how do you know they’re called Chigs? That was a name the marines created.”

“We heard the AIs talking.”

“So, you’re part of the hostages from the colony? I thought the Chigs returned the hostages—or, at least we went and got them. That’s part of the reason I crashed.”

“Like I said, they separated us from the rest of them a long time ago and kept us in a whole different facility, I think. So, we weren’t even near the other hostages.” 

“And you didn’t see a crashed cockpit anywhere? There’s been no other woman marine with long brown hair, a few inches shorter than me, green eyes?”

“Haven’t seen anyone. I’ll let the others know to look out for her when they get back. Should be any minute now. We can look for Wang, too, if you wanna give us a description.” 

Vanessa nodded, starting to feel a little stronger, but there was still an exhaustion that had settled down deep into her bones and her limbs felt like lead. Her eyes grew heavy and she merely nodded at Mallory. 

As if reading her mind, Mallory said, “You can go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

“Thank you,” Vanessa muttered as she settled back down into her sleeping bag. She wasn’t sure where they got the bags, since there were none on the APC and she’d forgotten to ask, but she didn’t quite care at the moment. They’d probably found them somewhere else. Or maybe even the Chigs had been humane and given them to their six favorites. She settled into the pillow and let the exhaustion take over, her dreams full of Paul and Shane.


	3. Strangely Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bear with me, as I’m still sort of getting the hang of AO3. I joined a long time ago, but got really busy and was unable to write or post anything, so didn’t really get to use the site much. Now I’m posting, but still kind of getting the hang of things, like how to transfer italics from my Word Doc to the AO3 format and all that stuff. I think I figured it out, but there still might be some hiccups along the way. As always, thank you guys for being awesome and patient with me.

**May 20, 2064. 0600 hours.**

**En route to planet Rathos, aboard an APC**

Cooper curled up on his bunk and watched the stars go by out the window. Their destination was a little ways from the mystery planet that his squad mates had crash landed on. Ross had been right in what he’d said during the briefing: the Chigs avoided that planet like it was some sort of disease. Rathos, on the other hand, was thought to be the site of a large enemy base and an important place of operation. The 58th had been ordered to go in and destroy all the aliens and AIs and salvage anything that might be useful from their control room. Two more APCs followed close behind as back-up; one would help them clear out the base and the other would circle overheard and act as guards after the Wild Cards cleared the place out. Then later, intelligence would be sent in to study and report on the contents inside. But they were still a little ways away from Rathos, so were taking what time they could to relax. Intelligence had also alerted them that observation of the base had revealed strange lights and sounds coming from inside. Who knew what they would find? Cooper was hoping for something about Vansen and Damphousse, but knew it was a long shot.

“Hey.”

Cooper turned to see Lily smiling at him, sitting on the bunk across from him. West lay in his own upper bunk with his back turned to everyone, while Perkins and Burns sat up front flirting. Two other marines whose names Cooper couldn’t remember manned the cockpit. “Hey,” he replied, his mouth twitching at the corners. He didn’t think any of them really smiled anymore—except Lily. She’d become friends with West and Cooper quickly, as much as she could with their walls up the way they were. He knew West liked her and Cooper did, too.

“How are you feeling? With Wang back, I mean?”

Cooper shrugged. She was constantly asking him how he was feeling. He knew from West that it was just her way of caring, but he never really talked about his feelings. He didn’t even know _what_ he was feeling. She’d reached out to offer him a shoulder several times, but each time he took her up on it, he could tell in her eyes that she just wasn’t quite understanding. All he saw in her eyes was pity, and that was the last thing he needed. He didn’t want to be coddled; he wanted to be validated.

“You don’t wanna talk about it?” Her dark eyes shone with concern—at least, that’s what Cooper _thought_ it was. Even after all this time with the 58, he was still get used to reading people.

“I dunno what to say, really,” he answered quietly. “I mean… well, I don’t know.”

“Go on,” she prompted.

Cooper uncurled his legs and let them hang over the bunk, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He sighed before deciding to push forward. Not like they had anything better to do anyway. “I just… I’m glad he’s back and he’s alive, but I just want him to wake up, ya know?” He hesitated. “I dunno what I’m gonna do if he doesn’t. I’d rather just lose him and be done with it, versus losing him, then getting him back again, then just waiting around to see if we lose him again.”

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly.

“Hey, Drums!” Burns shouted from the front. “We need a third person, so quit talking to the nipple-neck.”

West shot up faster than Cooper thought possible, launching himself from his bunk and towards Burns. Cooper and Lily were forced to lean back to avoid getting plowed over. West made his way over to where Burns and Perkins were playing cards and grabbed the offending party by the jumpsuit collar. “Don’t call him that!” he shouted in Burns’s face. “I’m your XO right now and I like and trust him a hell of a lot better than I like and trust you, so I’d watch your fucking mouth. Besides, you’re supposed to be manning the radio, not flirting with Perkins! If you don’t get your ass in gear, I’m sure I can arrange something with Colonel McQueen. And then on the next mission we go on, you can relax all you like while you stay behind on the _Saratoga_!” He punctuated his rant with a rough shove.

Burns glared at him, but made his way over to the radio in silence. Perkins avoided everyone’s eyes, still as a stone. West ignored her and trudged back to his bunk, clapping Cooper on the shoulder in the process. He laid back down in the same position as before.

Lily glanced at Burns and rolled her eyes. She snorted. “Yeah, Jack Burns—more like Jack Ass.”

West barked out a laugh from his bunk and Cooper smiled. It was the closest he’d come to a real smile since the peace talks. He returned his attention to Lily. “You think we’ll find anything about Vansen and Phousse on Rathos?” He knew the answer she would give, but he desperately needed some sort of reassurance right now.

She sighed. “I have no clue. But the SAR teams will find them eventually. They can’t have just disappeared into thin air.”

Cooper nodded, his gaze growing distant as he watched the stars go by the window behind Lily. They _would_ have to find them eventually, right?

Right?

* * *

 

Cooper crouched behind West, scurrying at an awkward angle for his long legs. The Rathos base _was_ huge, just like they’d been warned. But Cooper hadn’t been expecting it to be quite this big. It was at least half the size of the _Saratoga_ , maybe even more. Three stories of metal with what Cooper could only describe as a couple towers stretched up towards the pre-dawn sky. It had taken them another hour to get to Rathos, but the sky still remained dark enough for the 58 to sneak in. There was no vegetation, save a few tufts of grass. Everything else was just hard, unforgiving dirt. Intelligence hadn’t been able to determine whether the air was breathable for humans, so Cooper had begrudgingly adorned his helmet with the others. He hated that thing. Too cramped.

The two marines scurried behind two large crates that stood several hundred yards from the entrance to the base, which was guarded by two armed Silicates. West peeked around the corner of the crate from his position in front. But even behind the crate, Cooper could see the third story clearly in the dark.

“We’re supposed to take _everyone_ out?” Cooper hissed. “This place is huge. How will we even know if we’ve gotten ’em all?”

West turned, his eyes distant in thought for a moment. “They wanted us to get to the control center. Ross said that’s where all the important stuff is. We’ll go there first, just to make sure we know the location and make sure it’s safe for intel later on. Hopefully they’ll have some sort of security cameras or something and we’ll be prepared to take the rest of them out.” He peeked around the crate again, then turned back to his squad mate. “Do you think you can make it over there,” he pointed to another set of crates opposite from where they were crouched, “and take out the guy on the right?”

Cooper nodded and switched places with West. He peeked around, waiting until the AIs’ backs were turned before sprinting for cover again. Both marines readied their silencers and the Silicates dropped dead simultaneously. West spoke into his headset for everyone else to hurry forward.

The trek inside followed a similar pattern: Perkins, Burns and the marines from the second APC guarded their six, while Cooper and West scouted ahead, quietly taking out any Silicates with precise shots. So far, there had been no Chigs to be seen, which only made Cooper more worried. They had been awfully quiet and removed since the peace talks, making him wonder what exactly they were planning.

The base itself was strangely human in that it was what you would expect of a large facility: lots of twisting hallways with minimal windows, littered with doors and thick pipes creating a labyrinth up by the ceiling. And it was quiet—too quiet.

Lily went about searching for any security cameras. The few she found, she disabled quickly and quietly. She’d said earlier in the APC that she wished they’d had more time and information before they infiltrated the base; that way, she maybe could’ve put any cameras on some sort of a loop, so whoever was watching them wouldn’t notice anything wrong. But intelligence had had a hard time getting close enough to get them anything solid other than the location of the control center: second floor, hidden within a bunch of hallways and inner rooms. Where exactly it _was_ within these hallways and inner rooms, no one was quite sure. They thought it would be at the center, but Cooper wasn’t sure how much of that was a guess more than anything.

There were a surprisingly few number of AIs in the base and none of them seemed to be doing anything other than guarding the place. As human as the technology seemed, he assumed that meant the AIs had been running the show. But maybe all the Chigs, important AIs and alien technology must’ve been on the second floor or in the control center itself. But the second floor was even emptier than the first. He relaxed as the number of Silicate guards increased the closer they got to the center. There were a few skirmishes where Cooper was sure they would sound some sort of alarm and the mission would be over, but they had more than enough marines to handle the situation.

The guards increased again once the group made their way through a passage of inner hallways that looked promising. On the other side, the room was crawling with Silicates, although still no Chigs anywhere to be seen. Were they on the third floor then? A large, armored door stood in the center of the back wall. There were too many to take them out quietly and West ordered the other marines to stay back and guard their flanks, just in case. A firefight ensued and Cooper was struck on the shoulder, but grit his teeth before tackling the AI to the ground. The others weren’t doing much better, although West and Lily handled themselves well. Once the Silicate that shot Cooper was dealt with, he glimpsed Burns and Perkins hiding behind a cabinet out of the corner of his eye. Perkins merely cowered and clutched her gun while Burns shot at everything _but_ the Silicates. Cooper rolled his eyes and rushed to help his teammates that were actually _doing_ the work.

The outer room was soon cleared and their attention turned towards the door. The other squadron of marines crept forward, leaving two to guard the hallway while they dealt with the control room. West looked around. “Where are Burns and Perkins?”

The pair slowly stood up from behind the cabinet and made their way forward. Burns’s green eyes glared, daring West to reprimand him in the middle of enemy territory, his brow furrowed beneath his buzzed brown hair. Perkins, however, looked guiltier, her blue eyes peeking up from underneath her short black hair and hiding beneath her bangs.

West sighed. “I’ll deal with you two later. Drums, any ideas on how to get this door open?”

“Working on it.” Lily was already studying the control panel. She had taken over as their tech person since Phousse was still… Cooper swallowed a lump in his throat. _No, don’t think about that now_.

A voice came through on the headset. “ _Lieutenant West, our tech person might be able to get it open if Lieutenant Drums needs help_.”

“Give us a few more minutes,” West replied. “We don’t want everyone in the way if we open the doors and a bunch of armed Chigs and AIs pour out. Everything good on your end, Lieutenant?”

“ _Affirmative, Lieutenant_.”

The headset went quiet as Lily dragged over a Silicate’s body, slamming its hand onto one of the screens on the door’s console. It beeped and turned green before another screen popped up that Cooper couldn’t see around Lily’s shoulder as she turned.

“What’s that?” Perkins asked hesitantly.

“It wants some sort of code,” Lily replied. She turned to West, the inner light of her helmet illuminating her face. “I can try to work with it, but it might take longer than if the other tech person comes in.”

West nodded and two of the marines from the accompanying squad switched places. He and Lily worked together for several minutes while the rest of them watched in silence.

“Would you hurry it up?” Burns snapped.

West slowly turned to glower at him. “You’re already on thin ice, Burns. I wouldn’t push it.”

“Who knows how many more Silicates or Chigs are on the third floor?” he continued anyway. “They could be waiting to ambush us any second. Or if there’s enemies behind the door.” He gestured carelessly to the inner room with his gun. “The longer we take, the longer they have to get themselves ready.”

“Burns!” West snapped. “Shut it!”

“Got it!” Lily cried as the door slid to the right into the wall, revealing another door behind it that slid to the left. The open doorway yawned at them as a silent, black chasm, giving the group pause.

West hoisted his gun up and motioned for everyone to get behind him. He turned on the flashlight attached to his gun and slowly made his way inside, Cooper and the others right at his heels.

It was hard to tell anything in the dim flashlight other than the room itself was huge. Several consoles sat around the room in semi circles, all of them turned off. Some large screens curved around the circular walls and there were several tables with tablets—and even some papers with handwritten notes in a language Cooper couldn’t understand—scattered about. Surely, if someone was in here, they would’ve jumped out by now.

“Look for a light switch,” West whispered into the shadows.

Cooper turned his flashlight to the wall, scanning the smooth surface. There were a few electrical boxes with buttons, but how were they supposed to find a light switch? What would it even look like? Would it be a button or an actual switch? He was about to ask as much when there was a _whirl_ ing nose and all the lights slowly came on, as did the consoles, screens and tablets all around the room. He glanced around to see Lily’s hand still on a large switch on the wall. A tiny picture of a light bulb was carved into the metal next to it, probably for the Silicates. Several shapes also sat beneath the carving, making Cooper wonder if they were some sort of Chig alphabet. The screens showed all sorts of maps, notes, tabs and different runes that were a mystery to Cooper. Much to his—and probably West’s—disappointment, there didn’t seem to be videos that showed security camera footage. If there were, they were well-hidden.

The room was just as big as Cooper had thought it was—twice the size of the Rec. Room on the _Saratoga_ , and was littered with both familiar and unfamiliar technology. The control room looked strangely human, but maybe it was made primarily to be operated by the Silicates in the Chigs’ stead. But if that was case, why was the place hardly guarded at all? Why was everything in a strange alphabet, unless the AIs were fluent in Chig (which was likely, seeing as they were allies)? Was the enemy being arrogant and assuming no one would find them? Where was everyone?

“Look around,” West ordered. “Look under every desk, every drawer, every cabinet, closet—everything. Make sure there’s no one in here before we move on to the third floor.”

“Drawers?” Burns said from next to Cooper. “Who’s gonna fit inside a drawer?”

“They could hide a bomb or camera or tracking device in there, you idiot!” Cooper snapped.

“No one asked you, tank!”

“No one expected you to shut your brain off during a mission either!” He cringed internally. It was a bad comeback, but the best he could come up with in the moment. Apparently, it was good enough as Burns swung a fist at Cooper’s head. The In-Vitro ducked just in time and could hear West yelling for them to stop above the commotion they were making. As he ducked, he could see a few marines rushing towards them, but they had to zigzag around several consoles to get to the pair of them.

“Burns, quit!” Cooper yelled, but to no avail. Burns finally reached around his outstretched arms to give him a rough shove. Cooper grunted as his back smashed into a console. The whole room froze as the lights died and turned a crude red. For the next few minutes, there was no sound except for an alarm blaring in the distance.


	4. Friendly Suspects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. I know it's been so long and I'm so sorry for that. College, work and writer's block have been eating my life and I've barely written anything all year. I'll try to be more regular with updates from now on, since things are finally slowing down a bit since I'm getting closer to graduation. I really do want to continue this story. I know this chapter's short, but I wanted to get at least something out. I'll continue the cliffhanger that ended the last chapter in the next one. When I put them together, it was way too long and there are still a lot of kinks I need to sort out. Thank you guys for the read, follow and comments

**Unknown month/day/2064.**

**1700 hours**

 

“You sure you’re up for this?” Mallory asked, looking Vanessa over with concern.

“Yes,” the marine replied, checking for the fifth time if everything she needed was secured to her belt. Her voice echoed inside her helmet. The cord connecting it to her oxygen tank (which somehow still worked) caught on an awkward part of the cave wall that jutted out and she yanked it free. “Let’s go.” Without waiting for the other two, she made her way out of the twisting tunnels to the mouth of the cave. Mallory and Henry trailed behind her. Apparently, Henry had studied computer technology on a small college at the colony before it was attacked and had a little success with the radio, but not enough to get a message out to anyone. He reminded her of Nathan in looks and movements, making her heart ache. She just wanted to be back on the _Saratoga_ with him and Cooper. What even had happened to them? Had they even _made_ it back to the ship? Or had they been attacked and killed or captured after she’d passed out?

The trio silently trudged across the grim landscape. Vanessa hadn’t really been able to take it in before, but it really was a disgusting place. Everything had a sickly green pallor to it, although there were plenty of trees and other vegetation. Foreign sounds swirled around them, although some sounded familiar in the setting sun…No, wait: sun _s_. Three were setting in a diagonal line in the distance. But if there were three suns, why wasn’t it brighter? Why did everything still look dark and disgusting?

Vanessa glanced over at the two POWs, unsure what to say. The silence lay like an iceberg between them—cold and unforgiving, although she wasn’t sure why. Mallory had been friendly enough earlier. Whenever earlier had _been_. She wasn’t sure if it had been earlier today or yesterday. She’d been sleeping for the majority of the time after she’d been rescued and had only gotten her strength back a few hours ago.

But, she thought, maybe the cold silence wasn’t between herself and the other two. Maybe it lay between Henry and Mallory. She risked a glance back at them, still keeping up their quick pace. She had safety from whatever gas was in the air, but they didn’t. They needed to be careful not to be gone more than an hour. But her two companions didn’t _seem_ like they hated each other; there was no body language to suggest they held anything aside from companionship. Henry caught her eye, his hazel eyes going hard before looking away again. She turned back around, the silence hanging over them like a dark cloud.

After what felt like hours of walking, the wrecked APC could be seen in the distance. Even though the whole trek there had been flat, Vanessa could feel her legs burning. Maybe she hadn’t regained as much strength as she thought. Nonetheless, she pushed forward, everything around her fading but the APC. She practically ran the last few yards and carefully examined the outside of the large box. Certain parts were dented, but the metal didn’t look to be broken in any places. The part that the missile had made contact with was black and charred. She could see the emergency doors up by where the compartment would’ve connected to the cockpit had closed, but had been since pried open. Probably how Wang got out—or if someone rescued him. Whatever had happened.

Her body was rigid as she carefully stepped inside. The only light came from the meagre windows, revealing all of the cabinet doors had been flung wide open. Any area where someone could’ve waited to ambush them had been cleared, likely by Mallory and her friends.

“It’s safe,” Mallory said behind her. “Everything’s exactly how we left it last time.”

Henry pushed past them silently and sat down at the radio. He began to play with several of the knobs and static filled the air. Vanessa allowed herself a quiet sigh of relief as she took in the familiar surroundings. If only they weren’t in unfamiliar territory. Whether there was tension between herself, Mallory and her friends or not, Damphousse was a marine: it was her responsibility to get both herself and these people back home.

“How long do we have before we need to head back?” Vanessa asked, turning to the girl next to her.

“We should be okay for a while. We’ve been in here for over an hour before and haven’t felt any effects of the air. The door blocks most of it.”

Henry piped up, “Pushing more than an hour probably isn’t a good idea though.”

Her mind returning to the task at hand, she trudged over to where Henry was sitting. “I can take a look at it—or at least figure out what parts are the most damaged.”

Henry stared at her blankly for several seconds before glancing at Mallory. He slowly got up and made his way over to his fellow POW, gesturing for her to join him in the corner. Vanessa focused her gaze on the radio, quietly removing her helmet so she could hear what was being whispered a few feet away. She removed a few of the panels, only half paying attention to the chord before her.

“…we can trust her?” Henry was saying.

“Look at her jumpsuit, she’s a marine,” Mallory hissed back.

Something she couldn’t understand, then, “—be working for the Chigs. You know how they isolate and break people into doing whatever they want.” The last part was emphasized. A long silence followed and filled the air with the same tension as before. So not only was Vanessa herself suspect, but so was Mallory. She’d mentioned before that she’d been a “favorite” of the Chigs and separated from the others frequently. She felt pity for Mallory, anger at Henry for thinking she—a trained marine—would break so easily, but at the same time, couldn’t blame him. She wondered if his was a sentiment the other POWs shared.

There were more whispers from Henry that were hard to make out, followed by, “sending a message…so they find us…”

Mallory’s voice rose. “If you’re so concerned, then go over there and watch. Or have you been bluffing your technical skills? That would explain why you haven’t gotten anything more than static yet.”

More silence followed by heavy footfalls coming in Vanessa’s direction. She glanced up and tried to give Henry a reassuring smile, but his expression remained flat and unforgiving. Mallory and turned her back to both of them and was looking out the window, arms crossed tightly in front of her. Vanessa returned her attention to the task at hand, beginning to feel more like a POW herself.


	5. Alone

**May 20, 2064. 7000 hours.**

**Enemy base, planet Rathos**

Everyone froze in horror under the blinking red lights as the alarm screamed in the distance. Burns stood with his arms still halfway outstretched towards Cooper, his face blank with shock. Cooper glanced at West, who quickly recovered and shot a murderous glare at the back of Burns’s head. If they ever got out of here, Burns was as good as dead.

The screech of metal scraping behind them caused everyone to turn. “No!” West cried, racing towards the control room door as it slid closed. He was too slow and pounded on the door with an armored fist, a hollow _clang_ sealing their sentence. He sighed, tilting his head towards the ceiling. Cooper couldn’t see his face, but imagined his eyes were closed and could hear him take several steadying breaths through the headset.

“ _Lieutenant West?_ ” came the query from the other side of the door. Cooper had nearly forgotten about the two marines with them who were guarding the hallway outside.

“We’re trapped in the control room,” West replied in a flat voice. “There was an…incident.”

“ _We’ll do our best to see if there’s a way to open the door on our end._ ”

“Copy that. We’ll look around in here for something.” He turned and gestured around the room, avoiding eye contact with everyone except Cooper. His dark eyes burned with rage.

Burns hesitantly held out his hand to help Cooper off the console. Cooper slapped it away and shoved himself into a standing position, examining the panel behind him. His oxygen tank had crushed most of the buttons and snapped a lever in half. He futilely tried to push a few of the buttons, but the pressure did little. He grabbed the in-tact half of the lever and pushed. It budged slightly and he grabbed it in both hands, leaning his full weight into it. He paused a moment to glance around the room. His squad mates were trying other consoles around the room, but it was impossible to know which button did what without any human displays. Cooper leaned onto the lever more and a panel in the wall slid open barely an inch. He called West’s attention and pointed. The other marine and Lily carefully made their way over to the panel, guns at the ready.

Cooper pushed with all his might, practically lying on top of the console. He groaned with the effort and the lever finally let go, causing him to faceplant onto the metal in front of him and smash his face against his visor. “Ow, damn it!”

“You okay, Coop?” Lily asked.

“Mmm-hmm,” he mumbled, pushing himself up. A door had slid open in the wall, revealing a dimly-lit hallway that eventually was swallowed by the dark. The alarm was a constant reminder in the background, only adding to the tension in the room.

“Any luck out there, Lieutenant?” West said quietly into his headset.

“ _None, Lieutenant,_ ” came the reply, “ _we’ll keep trying_.”

“We found a hidden door. We’re going to try it. Make sure you two are watching your six.”

“ _Affirmative. Be careful, Lieutenant_.”

West nodded to the others before carefully making his way through the door and into the hall. West took point with Cooper and Lily in the middle, while Burns and Perkins brought up the rear.

The hallway was narrow, forcing everyone into single-file. Several doors lined the walls on either side with small screens beside them in leu of doorknobs. The sound of the alarm quieted the further the group retreated down the hallway. The white fluorescent light was a nice change from the glaring red of the control room, but it still took Cooper’s eyes times to adjust. He felt his breaths become shallower as his body registered the tight space, the walls squeezing him in until there would be nothing left.

“Breathe, Coop,” West said quietly into the headset.

He nodded, just regaining control of himself when Perkins’s shrill voice pierced the silence. “Where’s Jack?”

The group paused and turned as one to see Burns was nowhere to be found. All of the doors behind them remained closed, save the one that led back to the control room, now just a small red rectangle in the distance. There were no traces that a body had ever been at the back of their group at all.

“Burns!” West barked as loud as he dared. “ _Burns_!” There was no response. He stabbed the button on the side of his helmet to open a private channel to the other marine. He pursed his lips in a thin line and glanced at Cooper. “Just static…”

Cooper sighed. “Shit.” Why couldn’t just _one thing_ go the way it was supposed to?

“What do we do?” Perkins asked, looking as if she were about to cry. “We can’t just leave him here!”

“Split up?” Lily suggested.

West hesitated. “…I’d rather not. We’ve got enough problems as it is without getting separated.”

“I know, but Perkins is right. We can’t just leave him and we don’t have time to stop everything and do a full search right now.”

“But where the hell did he go?” Cooper asked, frustrated and frightened. Were the walls getting closer together again?

“Fine,” West said. “But check in with us every few minutes.”

Lily nodded and she and Perkins made their way back down the hallway, trying screens on several doors. Cooper turned back around and followed West further into the dim hallway. He was sweating profusely in his suit, praying to whoever was listening that they’d find a large, open space soon. He felt even more confined with West in front of him, hampering his speed.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. “West, switch me spots. I’m about to crazy with how tight this is.”

West glanced back and nodded, flattening himself against the wall so Cooper could move ahead. He breathed a sigh of relief as the hallway opened up before him. His claustrophobia was still present, but better now.

“Drums?” West called behind him. The duo continued to move forward, trying to find an end to the hallway and make sure no Chigs were lurking about. So far, there had been no corners or places to hide except behind the doors. Just a grey, metallic chute barely large enough for Cooper to stand up in, going back in a straight shot from the control room.

The panic in West’s voice brought Cooper back to the present. “Drums? Perkins? Where are you?”

There was no reply. The hallway was oddly quiet. Even his and West’s footsteps seemed too quiet in the silence. Cooper felt like he was about to go insane. He turned to suggest they go back; he got a bad feeling from this hallway. But West was gone, as if he’d never been there in the first place. Cooper’s heart stopped in his chest. “West?” There was no response. Lily and Perkins were nowhere to be seen further down the hallway either. The control room door was now merely a tiny red dot in the distance. “West!” Still nothing. “Guys, c’mon, this isn’t funny!”

He stood, clutching his gun so hard that he was sure his knuckles were white under his gloves. He could feel his long, unruly hair sticking to the back of his neck underneath his helmet and his pulse thundered in his ears.

It took him a moment to realize that someone was talking to him through the headset. Was it West? Had everyone else just slipped through a side door and he hadn’t noticed?

“ _Lieutenant Hawkes?_ ”

Cooper’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. It was just one of the marines stationed on the other side of the control room door. “Yeah?”

“ _We think we’ve almost got the door open. What’s going on in there? Why can’t we contact any of the others?_ ”

A light flickered above Cooper’s head, drawing his attention. Before he could respond, everything suddenly went black.

* * *

 

**Unknown month/day/2064. 0200 hours.**

**Unknown planet.**

“My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen…” she repeated the mantra to herself as she shivered. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten here. All she knew was that she’d climbed up—walked up a hill or rock-climbed a mountain or even walked a path, she couldn’t remember—until there had been bitter wind and snow. She sat in an alcove made between two large boulders, shielding her from most of the wind, but the long brown strands that had come loose from her ponytail still danced around her face and head. She hugged her knees to her chest and hid her face with her arms, allowing herself to lean against a smoother edge of one of the boulders.

Eventually, she slipped into sleep, welcoming the blackness. Anything to escape this hell, even if it was only for a few hours. Aware she was dreaming, she found herself walking through a dense fog. There were no discerning features that might tell her where her dream was taking place, but she didn’t feel afraid. She knew she was safe here. Several white lights bobbed at random intervals throughout the fog, feeling familiar as she passed, but she couldn’t put her finger on why. Finally, she found a light that was completely foreign to her. She walked closer to the tiny white orb of light, just bobbing a few inches above her head. As she got closer, the light faded, turning a dark color and growing into an elongated oval, but still clearly visible through the fog. The closer she got, the more it represented the silhouette of a human—or a Silicate. Her mind reeled at the possibility and she recoiled from the hand that had suddenly outstretched towards her.

A woman’s voice called out through the fog, echoing in the vast emptiness, “Can you see me?”

Shane paused. “No.”

“I’m here to help, but I can’t stay long. Where are you? When you’re awake, where are you?”

“I…I don’t know.” She felt slightly horrified with how real this felt, but calm at the same time. She felt safe here. She felt free. “Boulders. Snow.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “Cold.” Why couldn’t she put a full sentence together? This was the most coherent she’d felt since she’d crashed—since she’d died—but for some reason, her mouth wasn’t connecting to her brain. What even _was_ this? Another spirit? An angel come to rescue her? Was it even Damphousse? Or Wang? No, wait, it didn’t feel like them…She would know. _How_ she would know, she wasn’t sure, but she _would_ know.

The silhouette began to fade, their voice hardly a whisper. “Stay where you are. We’ll come get you…” The fog swallowed the dark figure and she was left alone again.

She jolted awake, the cold sinking into her bones and snapping her back to reality. Or death. Or whatever this was. Her voice shuddered as she continued her mantra, “My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen. My name is Shane Vansen…” Just a little longer. Someone was coming for her.


End file.
